Resurrection Of Jesus

Introduction:

Matthew, vols. 1-4 (The MacArthur New Testament Commentary) (Chapter 24: The Resurrection of Christ (28:1–10))

Like every piece of good literature, Matthew’s gospel is not a random collection of facts or ideas or stories but has a specific plan and purpose. Chapter 28 is not simply a closing group of anecdotes about the life of Christ but is the powerful climax of everything else he has written under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.The central event of that climax, the resurrection of Jesus Christ, is also the central event of God’s redemptive history. The resurrection is the cornerstone of the Christian faith, and everything that we are and have and hope to be is predicated on its reality. There would be no Christianity if there were no resurrection.The message of Scripture has always been a message of resurrection hope, a message that death is not the end for those who belong to God. For the believer, death has never been an end but rather a doorway that leads to eternity with God. Abraham willingly obeyed God’s command to sacrifice his only son, Isaac, because, in faith, “he considered that God is able to raise men even from the dead” (Heb. 11:19). The psalmists declared, “God will redeem my soul from the power of Sheol; for He will receive me” (Ps. 49:15) and that “with Thy counsel Thou wilt guide me, and afterward receive me to glory” (Ps. 73:24). Isaiah proclaimed, “Your dead will live; their corpses will rise” (Isa. 26:19). Through Daniel the Lord assures His people that, although they die, one day they “will awake … to everlasting life” (Dan. 12:2). Hosea assures believers that the Lord will raise up all believers to live before Him (Hos. 6:2). Job asked rhetorically, “If a man dies, will he live again?” and then declared, “All the days of my struggle I will wait, until my change comes” (Job 14:14). That ancient man of God even foresaw the reality of resurrection, proclaiming to his three friends, Bildad in particular: “I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last He will take His stand on the earth. Even after my skin is destroyed, yet from my flesh I shall see God” (Job 19:25–26).